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Helsinki's Russian Flavors

By JENIFER LANG; JENIFER LANG is the American editor for the 1988 edition of the ''Larousse Gastronomique'' (Crown). She is working on a book of recipes that appeal to children.

Published: October 15, 1989

MOST major cities are dotted with restaurants where the locals go when they want something ethnic. London has its Indian restaurants, Tokyo its Italian spaghetti parlors, and in Paris, Vietnamese food gives the extra kick to the French palate. In Helsinki, Russian restaurants provide exotic cuisine for natives when they're looking for a change from the tame and often prosaic Finnish diet.

From 1809 to 1917 Finland was a duchy of Russia, and as Russian subjects the Finns eagerly absorbed many aspects of Russian culture, including fashions in food. Today, a lack of quality ingredients in the Soviet Union and of the skill to work with those they have has resulted in food generally ranging from deplorable to unmemorable in restaurants there.

One of the few places where you can still savor Russian grand cuisine as it must have been before 1917 is Helsinki. Finland has the ingredients in abundance - fresh vegetables, wild mushrooms, game, meats and a good variety of Baltic fish - and the tradition of venerating Russian cuisine as it was in the past.

Perhaps another reason the Finns love Russian food has to do with the blandness and limited nature of their own cuisine. The Russian food served in Helsinki, on the other hand, is saturated with distinctive flavors, though sometimes a bit heavy on the garlic.

The state liquor monopoly buys and distributes all alcoholic beverages in Finland, so wines and liquors are generally the same in all the Russian restaurants in Helsinki.

Russian vodka is always a good bet- usually in a range of brands and flavors. The Russian white wine, Gurpzaani, and red wine, Mukuzani, are drinkable, though undistinguished. A word of warning: Finnish law imposes severe penalties on drivers found with even the smallest amount of alcohol in their system.

Reservations are recommended for all the restaurants mentioned here, since they are among the most popular in Helsinki. Staff at all the restaurants speak English. Many restaurants in Helsinki have small private dining rooms sometimes for as few as four people, so if you would like privacy, you might ask when making a reservation. Prices given below are per person. Dress tends to be casual in Helsinki, but men might feel comfortable wearing jackets, although not necessarily ties, for dinner in Bellevue and Nevski. Bellevue

Bellevue is a very pretty, intimate place in Helsinki's harbor district. Founded in 1922, Bellevue was recently redecorated by its current owner, the restaurateur and hotel developer Ragni Rissanen. Guests walk into the 85-seat restaurant through the tiny bar decorated with hand-painted Russian motifs, where champagne and caviar are served in the evening - the champagne from a Victorian birdbath filled with ice.

Mustard yellow walls and wooden wainscoting create a seductive setting in the evening. For lunch, the main dining room is a bit like a wake for Czar Nicholas II, with the background music a recording of a sonorous bass singing a melancholy song. In the summer, when the sun casts a blue glow through the glass until midnight, it's a good idea to ask for a table in the room with the skylight.

The bread in Finland is interesting and varied. At Bellevue, the bread basket was filled with a whole-grain assortment, crusts in colors ranging from chestnut to mahogany; the best was speckled with rye flakes.

One of the most popular appetizers at Bellevue is a curious Russian specialty with the anomalous name of julienne, having nothing to do with the French meaning of the word, which is to cut food into thin strips. Two tiny pots about the size of espresso cups are served on a platter. One is filled with minced mushrooms, the other with chicken, each simmered in the oven with sour cream and onions until they are thick and golden brown on top.

Another favorite appetizer is pelmeni ($12; prices based on 4 Finnish marks to the dollar), a ravioli-type dumpling served in the winter in Siberia that's usually stored frozen in the snow in its native land. Bellevue's version is filled with lamb, boiled in a rich broth and served with a mustardy mushroom sauce spooned on top.

Solyanka is a soup-stew of Russian origin, but it is also one of the celebrated dishes of Karelia, a Western province of Finland that has passed back and forth between the two countries. Bellevue's solyanka ($19) is made with whitefish, and is piquant with olives, capers and lemon.

For dessert, it's hard to miss the flaming baba cake that is carried through the dining room from time to time, but a more delicious choice is syrniki ($9.50), pancakes made of buttermilk curds, sometimes eaten for breakfast in the Soviet Union, that are served with whipped cream, sour cream and wild berry jam.

Tea Russian style is an elaborate tray with the traditional filigreed silver holders for glasses of tea, accompanied by lemon and jam, which you can stir into the tea or eat separately from a spoon, between sips.

The cost of a medium-priced meal, with a vodka, a half bottle of wine and service, is about $72.